Petra Vlhova wins her third Slalom race of the season in Kranjska Gora. Lena Dürr finished in second place +0.72 seconds behind Vlhova. A.J. Hurt completed the podium +0.87 seconds behind the Slovakian skier.
Petra Vlhova is the Slalom Queen of Kranjska Gora. She has won the last three Slalom races held in the Slovenian ski resort in 2020, 2022, and 2024.
It's Vlhova's 31 World Cup victory. Twelve of the last 13 women's World Cup Slaloms were won by Mikaela Shiffrin (7) and Petra Vlhová (5). The only exception in that run was a victory for Lena Dürr in Špindleruv Mlýn on 29 January 2023.
With 22 wins, the 28-year-old skier is now fourth in the all-time women's ranking for most World Cup Slalom wins, behind Mikaela Shiffrin (53), Marlies Schild (35), and Vreni Schneider (34).
"It was tough. Of course, I knew it would be tough from the first gate to the finish. I needed to be ready and I wanted to be ready. I skied well, I skied exactly how I wanted. I pushed as much as I could. When I crossed the finish line and saw the green light it was an explosion, because winning in front of many Slovaks fans, it’s something different to win. This race was one of the toughest races this season", Vlhova said.
Lena Dürr finished on the podium for the fourth time this season. It was her twelve podium in the World Cup, her eighth one in Slalom.
"I am super happy. The second run was really tough as expected and I was happy that the green light was on at the finish. It was a good day even though it was a tough day", Dürr said.
Starting with bib number 38 and reaching 16th place on the first run, 23-year-old A J Hurt managed to snatch her first podium in the World Cup with the fastest time on the second run. Previously, her best World Cup result was ninth place in the Giant Slalom in Tremblant in December 2023. In the Slalom, the 23-year-old US athlete's previous personal best was 25th place in Courchevel, also in December 2023.
"It feels amazing. It doesn’t really feel real right now, I don’t know what to say. I didn’t expect this. I feel like maybe everyone else was hoping the snow would freeze last night but I kind of like the soft snow", she said.
Mikaela Shiffrin failed to finish the first run after straddling a gate. The last time Shiffrin did not finish a Slalom event was also in Kranjska Gora on January 9, 2022.
Petra Vlhova closes the gap in the Slalom standings after today's win and is now only 5 points behind Shiffrin.